


Tears That Bridged The Smile [that never reached his eyes]

by DewingedAngel



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternating between present and past, Assassins, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21593359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DewingedAngel/pseuds/DewingedAngel
Summary: He couldn’t deny the characters that jumped out at him through the parchment, his mind hazy as he bent to pick it up off the floor. There was no mistaking it. It was clear as day. His next target’s name written in the beautiful swirl etched onto the offending item personally by the King, it mocked at him.Hongbin’s throat ran dry.Cha Hakyeon.
Relationships: Cha Hakyeon | N/Han Sanghyuk | Hyuk, Cha Hakyeon | N/Lee Hongbin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37





	Tears That Bridged The Smile [that never reached his eyes]

**Author's Note:**

> This fic took me close to a whopping 11 months to complete and am I glad I finally got to finish it. It was originally something I had started for a ficfest but lol this monstrosity did not want to write itself back then.
> 
> I'm extremely proud of this, though. I think, if I had forced myself to finish this back then, it would not have turned up like this. I hold this close to my heart. This is also my longest one shot. 
> 
> This fic had many working titles : The Shrine of Passion, An Assassin's Account of Pain and Ruin, Sanctuary of Ruin, etc etc
> 
> But one of my closest friends had suggested this one and let me tell you, I fell in love with it the second I read it. So what if it is too long? It fits perfectly, like a glove and I'm not changing it.
> 
> Thank you, Bhar. 
> 
> WARNINGS  
> • There are mentions of blood and sword fighting at the end. If you are squeamish, skip the part from where Hakyeon draws his sword. But it isn't explicit.  
> • There is also character death. The entire plot is around a character death, which again, isn't explicit, but is of utmost importance for this fic. 
> 
> Happy reading! 
> 
> Do leave me comments and kudos if you liked it enough.

Sweat clung to his body, dripping down the clumps of hair that framed his forehead and on to the bridge of his nose. He squinted through his eyes in an attempt to save them from the harsh glare of the blazing sun and the cunning glint of the sword held by his opponent. His breath came out in puffs, his chest heaving as he took his stance, his dominant hand held in front in a defensive position, the opposite leg stretched out behind him. His own sword was positioned to clank off his opponent’s.

He smiled slightly when he saw his opponent move a few spaces behind, letting the gravel crunch below his feet. A tiny swirl of the sand from the ground beneath them swept up, leaving a haze of golden-yellow in between their heaving bodies.

A sudden chill zapped up and down his spine as he moved to take a step forward. Spots began to take over his vision, blurring his surroundings and he broke out in a cold sweat. His heart began to thunder. His limbs felt almost gelatinous, viscous. Worry shook through him at the thought of dropping the sword in the middle of the training session. It needn’t have, seeing as it passed just as quickly and suddenly as it crept upon him. His grip on the hilt tightened.

To say the episode caught him off guard would have to be an understatement. The frequency had increased, and so had the intensity of each strike. It was slightly worrying. He needed the tea. He let his eyes wander to the sidelines, catching sight of one of his closest friends watching him with hawk-like precision, noticing every one of his movements. The way his jaw was set tight, Hongbin assumed Jaehwan had something to say to him. Not a conversation in his favour, for sure.

Ignoring the look of concern on Jaehwan’s face, he turned his attention towards his opponent once again, one of the guards he was training, “Are you up for it?” He let his voice carry across the arena.

“Yes, captain,” came the reply, albeit dripping with fear.

“You know what to do, Soldier. Keep your eyes, your ears and your nose open. All of your senses must be at their sharpest, heightened. You need to learn to absorb your entire surroundings,” Hongbin began to circle the soldier.

Before he could properly start the training session, however, he heard his name being called out. “Captain Lee!”

Hongbin sighed as he dropped his hand to his sides. “Let us continue with the session at a later time,” He bowed once to the soldier, who did the same. “Keep up the good work,”

Hongbin turned towards the guard who had called him out.

“The King requests your presence, Captain,”

Hongbin nodded once. “Let His Majesty know I am on my way,”

He grabbed the piece of cloth he’d laid out on a table at the corner of the arena to dry himself, as he watched Jaehwan make his way towards him.

“You do not look too good, Hongbin,” Jaehwan frowned.

“Thank you, hyung. You look radiating, as well,” Hongbin gritted out. “It could happen to you as well, if you were to train young ones for four continuous hours, without proper rest at night,”

“That is not what I mean. You seem sick, Hongbin. Not tired, sick. Your skin is ghastly pale, worse than when I’d found you drenched in sweat and breathing shallow in your bed last night. You aren’t telling me something,”

Hongbin shook his head. “His Majesty is awaiting my arrival, hyung. I am sure you are very much aware of just how much he despises to be kept waiting,” He turned away from Jaehwan.

Jaehwan immediately grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving. “You cannot avoid me for much longer,”

“I’m not avoiding you,”

Perhaps, he was not entirely convincing.

A scroll of parchment, snugly tied in the middle wiith a bow was dropped into his hands without much preamble as he made to stand from his deep bow in front of the King. “Your Majesty?”

“Top priority. Stop whatever it is that you have been doing recently. This man is a threat. He needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible before he becomes any more of a menace,” The King stood facing away from Hongbin.

He frowned slightly. “But, Your Majesty, I am yet to complete the previous mission. It is on the verge of completion. Can I not see to that before?”

The King shook his head. “That does not matter at the moment. Attend to this first,”

Hongbin bowed once again before retreating. “Yes, Your Majesty,”

By the time he reached his quarters, the exhaustion of having spent the previous night awake began to catch up with him. His entire body felt heavy, it seemed to scream at him to let it rest, yet he had no time for such luxury. The King’s orders were not something he could simply ignore, he had no such authority.

He sighed as he stepped out of his sweat-drenched training attire, choosing to place the scroll aside and letting his body soak in the warm waters he had earlier asked the maids to prepare for him, relaxing a tiny bit. His muscles seemed to melt into the rose petal tinted water. He sank into the tub, enjoying the waters as they lapped up at his skin.

He wasn’t even aware of when his thoughts drifted away, of when his mind began to provide him with the images of the man he longed to meet, of the man who had successfully managed to capture his entire being, collect every part of his soul, made him lose sense of his own self. The man who had absolutely had him wrapped around his little finger. The man who always made him feel a sense of peace, of a calm so deep that even without his presence, it sank into Hongbin's bones, swirled up his spine and lulled him over.

He awoke with a jolt, as the warmth of the waters long faded and the cold began to creep up into every single pore of his body, leaving him chilled and uncomfortable. He groaned as he rose, the waters dripping and sliding down his body as he grabbed the cloth he’d left on the side before he’d entered the tub. Wrapping it around his waist after having dabbed at the excess water, he stepped out.

The scroll that laid on a table in the corner of his quarters caught his attention. He picked it up, sliding the bow with ease and let it unfurl. And then his world stopped spinning promptly.

The scroll fell to the carpeted floor, a soft thud echoing around the room.

No. He had to have read the characters wrong.

Maybe he was having another one of those episodes that so loved to attack him out of seemingly nowhere.

His eyesight had possibly given up on him.

Yet, he couldn’t deny the characters that jumped out at him through the parchment, his mind hazy as he bent to pick it up off the floor. There was no mistaking it. It was clear as day. His next target’s name written in the beautiful swirl etched onto the offending item personally by the King, it mocked at him.

Hongbin’s throat ran dry.

_Cha Hakyeon._

☙⚔❧

Beyond exhausted as he trotted back on Windflower, his trusty horse, all he wished for was a nice, warm bath and clean clothes. Images of his bed called to him as he realised all that was left to patrol was the market place. Sighing, he pulled on the reins of his horse and steered him towards the brightly lit area. Most stalls had packed up for the night. It was way past sundown, after all. Despite there being a fair, people still needed to get back home.

He loved the market place, honestly. It was always so boisterous out there. Vibrant stalls and street vendors with equally beautiful carts of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, spices, small restaurants tucked in between, places where kids could play games and win handcrafted items, beauty products for women, and many more, all arranged in the most pleasing ways. People were always out and about, no matter the time. Late-night vendors were equally as sought after as their daylight counterparts.

And the best part, at least according to Hongbin, were the small skits and performances that were set up almost every single day, just as the harsh sunlight faded into soft oranges and the skies became imbued with reds and goldens, all of it illuminating the entire area amazingly well, a pleasing sight to the eyes.

He was surprised that night, however, when he noticed that the streets were almost completely empty of the usual chatter that remained even when the stalls had packed up. He manoeuvred Windflower through an especially rickety area looking to see if anything was in disorder. There wasn’t. It was calm, too calm, almost.

He was debating going back to the palace grounds and possibly getting to bed at an acceptable time when he heard it. It was unmistakable, the music that flitted towards him, being carried through the wind as the direction of it changed slightly. The melody was strangely captivating. A flute, whoever was playing it, but it was somehow so meaningful that his entire being felt a pull.

Windflower gladly trod through to a clearing some distance away, seemingly just as drawn towards the sound as Hongbin was. The first thing he noticed was the sheer size of the gathering. It looked almost like the entire population of the place had gathered there, some even taking their spots on top of the carts and other items solid enough to hold their weights. And the other thing was how silent the crowd was. No crowd was ever that quiet in his experience. It was beyond unusual.

The thing that struck him the most, however, was the man everybody’s eyes were trained on. He’d barely caught a glimpse of the man when he had already begun to float away and Hongbin almost wanted to reach through the crowd and pull him back in front of his eyes. Mesmerized was a word that didn’t begin to captivate what he was feeling.

He quickly tied Windflower down to a post he found nearby and made his way through. The man was dancing, he could tell with the way he moved. But he wasn’t sure he’d ever witnessed somebody dance the way he was, so very expressive, so very graceful, so very fluid, and just so, so charming. It felt like the music flowed right through his veins instead of blood like other normal human beings. Maybe the man wasn’t even human. The thought seemed plausible.

Hongbin’s jaw must have hit the ground when the man looked his way and he pretty much stumbled back with the force of the stare that zipped right through him. How could a simple look in his direction fluster him so much, he did not understand. But he did, however, understand the crowd around him. He knew then, why they had all gathered.

Even when the music stopped flowing, even as the man stepped away from the centre, and even when he watched the man smile at another, grab the other’s hand and lean in to kiss his cheek, Hongbin simply couldn’t stop looking. He’d never known a simple performance would affect him so.

He tried, he really did, to get to the man, to at least know his name, to speak something, to introduce himself, but even before the thoughts formed in his mind, the gathering dispersed, and with it, the man. He was no-where to be seen and there was a strange pull to Hongbin’s heart that made him feel almost unnervingly unsettled.

“Excuse me,” He caught the attention of a man slightly older to him. “Who was that dancer?”

The man smiled. “Ah, the question of the century. He was amazing, wasn’t he? I’m not sure who he was, but the troop was claiming that nobody could rival their best performer when this man was pushed into the crowd by his friend. Nobody knows who he is or where he came from. Maybe a neighbouring village?”

That wasn’t the answer he was looking for, damn it. “So nobody would even know of his name?”

“No,” The man shook his head. “Nobody knows, I’m sorry”

Hongbin bowed his head slightly in respect for the answer and turned away from the place. Even when he’d returned back to his chambers, had taken a shower and lay on his soft mattress, he couldn’t help his thoughts from wandering over to that dancer.

When he closed his eyes, the movements were clearly visible, as if burned into his very eyelids.

He never once forgot.

☙⚔❧

Hongbin couldn’t care less as he let the sliding door shut so hard it almost came off its hinges. He was barely calm as he stepped away from his room, the scroll with the offending characters clutched so tight his fingers were turning blue and white with the effort. It didn’t matter. He wanted answers and he wanted them immediately. He did not bother carrying a lantern with him, either. His knowledge of the hallways would have to do.

He tried to rein in the bitterness that was beginning to poison his thoughts as he stormed past the night’s guard, positively ignoring every single bow thrown his way. He wasn’t sure what sort of an expression had been burned onto his face, but he was glad nobody seemed to make an effort to stop him on his way. He wasn’t sure what he might have ended up doing otherwise.

His breath ragged, he stopped short in front the King’s night chambers, and without wasting a beat, he demanded to be let in. “Is he in?” he all but spat in the guard’s face.

“His Majesty isn’t available to meet at the current. His expert orders were to keep everybody out of his quarters until dawn, Captain Lee,” The guard bowed as he answered. “The rules apply to you as well, Captain Lee. I’m sorry, but please come back when it is light outside,”

“It does not matter to me in the least what His Majesty’s orders were. I need to see him and it is urgent,” And when the guard made no move of straightening from his bowed position, it irked him just that much more. “If you do not move I might have to move you myself. Would you want that, Park?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I cannot let you in,”

Hongbin scrutinised the guard with his most fearsome expression, but when he did not seem to budge, Hongbin swore under his breath before he moved to bang on the sliding doors with his fists. “Let me in, Your Majesty. I know you have not retired for the night as of yet,”

The guard moved soon, catching hold of Hongbin’s arms and pulling him away. Hongbin kicked and screamed, it was unbecoming of a Captain of the King’s guard, he knew, but he wanted answers, damn it. He couldn’t be bothered about his reputation or anything else for that matter. “Come out and meet me, will you?”

He was almost pushed out the King’s private chamber hallway when the door slid open and the King stood in the doorway, an expression of utmost bother etched into his skin and he snarled. “Are you aware of the time, Captain Lee?”

“We need to talk,” he said in lieu of a greeting, thrusting the crumpled piece of parchment in the King’s direction.

Silence.

That was the one thing that bore down on Hongbin as he sat, his right foot tapping out in a random rhythm, as if to some music only he could hear. He was seated in front of the King, the parchment that bore Hakyeon’s name on the table in between the two in the King’s study. He was still waiting for the King to address the very obvious issue.

He sucked in a sharp breath. “You cannot simply ignore me, Your Majesty,”

The King took his time in placing aside the brush he held in his hands that he was using to practise calligraphy, as he’d so claimed when Hongbin was let to enter. He then left a heavy block of wood to sit on one end of the parchment and lightly blew over the characters he had finished the strokes of. He looked up then, an eyebrow raised. “Are you here to tell me what I can and what I cannot do, Captain?”

Hongbin’s irritation and anger only served to flare. “That was absolutely not in my intentions, Your Majesty,” he yet answered.

“Tell me, then,” The King continued, his fingers lightly tracing the freshly dried characters. “What was your intention of screaming at two past midnight when you should have clearly returned to the work I assigned you to earlier?”

Hongbin almost spat at the King that he was the one playing games, but he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to clear his mind slightly. Nothing good ever came out of angering and accusing a King, even if that King was a cousin once grew up with. “It is about what you assigned to me, Your Majesty. The name on the parchment comes as a surprise. I want to know why,”

“Are you now questioning my intentions, Hongbin?” The King stood to pace around the room, making it clear whom the territory belonged to. “It is an order and I would like to see it followed through without unnecessary questions,” He turned to give him a look.

Hongbin shook his head, his hands clenched beneath the tabletop. “No matter, Your Majesty. I simply will not harm Hakyeon,” He would never. “He has been nothing but a model citizen. Being a healer isn’t against the rules.”

“Being just a healer sure isn’t,”

Hongbin wasn’t sure if that was meant for his ears. “I will not hurt him,” He repeated. He stood as well, unable to keep the tension away.

The King turned to appraise him, a small smile lilting his lips upwards. “You’re not the only person available for the job, Captain Lee. There are many more,” He blew on his fingers as if getting rid of some speck of dirt.

Hongbin’s jaw fell open. He couldn’t let that happen. If somebody else took over, Hakyeon’s life would most definitely be in danger, and he simply couldn’t – wouldn’t – wait and watch. He stared at the King, hoping the man knew just how much hatred he held for him at that moment. “Your order shall be followed through, Your Majesty,”

The King smiled at him, full-blown. “I do not expect anything less from you, cousin,”

As he left, the King had slipped back to the table and picked up his brushes once again, and Hongbin couldn’t shake the feeling that caught on once it registered to him exactly what it was that the King had been adamant on writing.

It was their motto.

_Hunt or be hunted._

☙⚔❧

It was a rare day off, having completed an assignment early and the King was happy enough with the results that he had granted him some time alone with no duties that needed to be performed. And Hongbin spent it with a close friend of his, a childhood friend of sorts. Wonshik was someone he’d grown up with within the palace compound. Mr Kim had been a part of the court for a long time. Wonshik used to come by often enough that they became friends.

“I don’t understand why you insist on farming when you are so bright and have already passed the scholarly examination, Wonshik,” Hongbin frowned as he chugged some soju directly from the pitcher and munched on some sides. They were at someplace within the main market place, a tavern that Wonshik claimed had the best dancers. Hongbin wanted to disagree, his mind wandering back to all that time ago when he’d seen the most beautiful performance he had ever had the pleasure to witness – It must have been close to four years, no, he wasn’t keeping track – but he kept quiet. He didn’t have answers to anything Wonshik might ask.

Wonshik sighed. “I’m not cut out for it, Hongbin. I’d rather work on my own terms. I wouldn’t fare well when work would simply be thrust upon me,”

Hongbin nodded in understanding. He did not, however, bother bringing up about his cut family ties. He knew there was something Wonshik wasn’t sharing. He did not push. “I see so little of you,”

“You can come by the farm anytime. I will give you my best vegetables and fruits,” Wonshik grinned as he snatched a piece of fried chicken right out of Hongbin’s hands. Hongbin simply let him.

“There’s a woman to your right dressed in coral and emerald green – do not look right away – and she’s been trying to get your attention for the better part of a half-hour, at least,” Hongbin leaned in to whisper into Wonshik’s ear, grinning a little, the effect of the soju he presumably consumed. “Go show her a good time,”

Wonshik immediately turned his head to his right and looked around. Hongbin wanted to hit him on the head but refrained.

“I’ll get going then,” Wonshik slipped away from his seat when the woman threw a wink his way. He replied with a wink of his own.

Hongbin sighed. How had he become friends with such an idiot, he did not know. He smiled slightly at the fact that they had caught up, at least. It had been a while since they’d last met. Their previous reunion had been just a while after Mr Kim decidedly disowned Wonshik and it was not a good time. Wonshik had been in a very dark place, then. He seemed happier months later.

Thanking the Gods above for blessing him with a higher tolerance of alcohol than most soldiers he knew, he paid the ajhumma at the front with gold, leaving her a generous tip and made his way out into the cool air of the night. The cool air helped sober his mind a little, the bite of it not too harsh, but just right.

Humming a tune under his breath, he decided to walk around for a while before he would need to get back. He’d left Windflower in the stables, so on foot it was. He didn’t mind. He loved to look around the scenes, breath in the smells of various delicacies and everything that came in between. The best, however, was the smell of fresh mud, especially with a little bit of water sprinkled and it rivalled even the scent of the best flowers in the palace.

He stood, his hands folded behind his back, and his eyes closed as he breathed in deep, the beauty of nature seeping right through him. A small smile lifted the corners of his lips up as he marvelled in the throes of it all. He felt at peace as the leaves rustled in the light breeze that kept up, carrying with it soft scents of various blooming flowers.

When he opened his eyes, however, he almost stumbled a little. He blinked his eyes a few times wondering if he was still in an alcohol-induced haze because it couldn’t be, right? It simply couldn’t be. It had been so, so long. Hongbin took a tentative step towards the image of the man bending over some of the short shrubs on one side of the path and rubbed his eyes, peering carefully.

Hongbin’s mouth fell open.

He didn’t know why, but he quickly found himself standing behind a large tree, his person hid from view of most passers-by. He watched the dancer from so long ago pick at some more of the shrubs and some random leaves from here and there. He followed quietly when the man walked towards the marketplace and picked out spices and other dried shrubbery. He probably looked suspicious, but he did not want the man to disappear as with the previous time. He wanted to learn his name, in the least.

He fell in silent step behind the man as he made his way out and into small streets and even smaller alleyways. It was not even funny how quiet he was as he followed the man. At least, his stealth training helped him there. He wasn’t sure he would have an explanation for any questions if the man found him stalking. He winced at the mere thought of it. How creepy of him.

The man was headed home, he realised, as they stepped out into a clearing after turns and twists that Hongbin had not even known existed in their place. A few streets split from the fork of the clearing, all becoming larger lanes and beginning to house buildings made of mud and thatch. Few people milled about, women washing the front yards, groups of men sitting under shades of trees and talking, laughing.

The man trudged past everybody with his head bowed slightly, as if he did not want anyone recognising him. There were still greetings thrown his way and he seemed to simply shrug himself smaller into the long coat he had donned, a plain grey durumagi.

Hongbin came to a stop when the man entered one of the houses. He did not want to be creepy enough to follow him inside as well. He stood a little awkwardly at the side of the entryway and looked around. The neighbourhood was nice, he decided. It was clean, and calm as well.

“Are you here for doctor Cha?”

Hongbin startled. He whipped his head around to find a small, plump woman looking up at him with kind eyes and a smile on her face. His confusion made her laugh slightly and she pointed towards the house the man had disappeared into. “That is the doctor’s place. He wouldn’t mind if you stepped in. he’s always welcoming. He doesn’t talk much now, though. Poor thing had so much taken away from him after all,” She gave a sad smile and continued. “You go right in, young man,”

Ah, so he was a doctor, then. That explained the shrubs and spices he was picking up. He nodded in thanks to the woman and stepped into the front yard. He noticed the spreads of dried spices the second he stepped in, an obvious mark of being a healer of any kind. The front door was ajar, just as the woman had said, so he decided to knock slightly before entering.

He found the man, the doctor, kneeling in front of what seemed to be a small shrine. On a table were kept a locket, a small velvety box that opened to reveal a single ring that was ruby embedded and a parchment that looked as if it was opened and closed, folded upon itself a myriad of times; a letter, he assumed.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it, since I’ve last spoken to you,” The man started, opening a bag from beside him to procure flowers and placed them on the table in front of the other three items. “I brought you these red flowers,” He took a shuddering breath and fell silent for a few moments before continuing. “You like these, don’t you? I do not know the name of them. But I know, if you were next to me, you’d tell me everything about them,” A small smile appeared even through the constant flow of tears cascading down his face.

Hongbin felt as if he was witnessing something extremely intimate, but he couldn’t step away. The man’s voice was equally captivating as the rest of him, even when he spoke with great difficulty, even when he was shrouded with emotion.

“I miss you every day, every hour, every minute, every second. I miss you so, so much,” The man stood, then and Hongbin, in panic, stepped outside to calm his heart down. He couldn’t simply walk in and embrace the man, no. He had to stamp down the urge to do so.

Hongbin took a few breaths and knocked on the wooden door once again, this time a tad louder.

“Who is it?” came the man’s voice from inside, none of the emotion from a few seconds ago clouding it.

Hongbin opened his mouth. Oh, shit. He had made it all the way through, but what work did he have with a doctor when he had the Royal Doctors tending to his every need back at the palace? Before he could run away and not ever think of the encounter, the man stepped out of the doorway and appraised Hongbin with a small frown.

“What do you – you’re from the palace,” The man’s expression morphed from confusion to recognition to hostility so quickly Hongbin nearly stumbled with the force of venom in his voice when he uttered the word ‘palace’. “Leave,”

It must have been Hongbin’s attire that gave him away, the same attire – the uniform of the Royal Guard – that usually gained him respect from every walk of life. He was dumbfounded. “What?”

“Leave. Nobody from that Godforsaken place will ever step foot in here. Leave, now,” The man blocked the entryway to the house and extended his arms. “I do not want to see your face ever again, understand?”

Hongbin didn’t. “But you’re a doctor,”

The man scoffed. “As if there are none at the palace,”

Hongbin swallowed. He hadn’t known the man was even remotely capable of sounding like that. “I just need a pain relief draught, please,”

The man’s expression darkened at that. “You will not get any draught from here. Leave, or I will make you,”

“Can you really treat your patients like this?” Hongbin couldn’t help asking. It was the wrong move, he knew that the second the words stumbled out of his mouth. Stupid, hasty mouth of his.

“This is my territory. I can do whatever I want. Now, leave. Get the fuck out,” The man nearly screamed at Hongbin.

“What is your name?” Hongbin blurted out as he stepped back with each forward step of the man.

“Why? Do you want to execute me as well?” The man challenged. “Do it, then. Go ahead,” He dropped his arms and glared. “If you have the nerve, if you have the gall, do it here, right here on my land. Go ahead,”

“I’m not here to pick a fight, doctor. I simply wanted a draught,” Hongbin put his hands up in hopes of making it clear that it was only a friendly visit. He didn’t understand the man’s excessive reactions, absolutely not.

“And I do not treat anybody from the palace,” The man spat at him.

They were at the main entrance, and the man shut the heavy wooden door on Hongbin’s face, making him sputter awkwardly.

“Did you get Hakyeon mad?” It was the same woman again. She had lost her smile. “What did you do?”

“I honestly don’t know either,” Hongbin replied.

At least, he knew his name now.

Cha Hakyeon.

☙⚔❧

When he’d left the palace grounds that night, his every intention was to get to Hakyeon first, to hold his face in his hands, to hold him close to his chest, to pepper him with tiny kisses, to shower him with all the love he deserved. But, the air wasn’t right. There was something entirely too unsettling about the night and he was antsy.

His throat quickly parched as he walked away from the palace and he had half a mind to return if only to consume some of the calming draughts Hakyeon had specifically prepared for him when he’d confessed to him one night of the horrors of his work. He’d been so grateful for it ever since, and he’d never gone a night without drinking some of it before falling into a peaceful sleep.

Hongbin shook his head. Every thought returned back to how Hakyeon was the next on his kill list, only next to one another person he was dreading having to deal with. As much as Mr Kim had disowned Wonshik, he was still an old acquaintance, and Hongbin did not like dealing with things that became too personal.

The questions, though, wouldn’t stop coming. He’d never once asked why. He’d never once uttered anything that might be unnecessary. He’d always done as was asked of him. Even when the parchment had to reach Mr Kim’s name, he had simply chalked it up to another duty of his. But when it came to Hakyeon, he wasn’t sure the adage of being happier not knowing was going to be applicable.

He needed answers, and he needed them immediately.

When he stopped walking, he found himself to be in front of the Kim mansion and he sighed to himself, before nodding his greeting to the guards placed at the entryway and asked for entrance, giving his name out.

Usually, when he went for work, he preferred going after midnight, and he preferred to sneak in, instead of announcing his arrival to the entire neighbourhood. But, he wasn’t there for work, he was there for answers. Hence why he chose to enter the normal way. As a guest and nothing more.

He was asked to take a seat in the waiting hall as one of the maids placed a glass of water on a table and informed him someone else had been sent to call upon the master of the house. Hongbin bowed his head slightly, thanking her and taking a sip of the water from the glass.

“Master Kim is here, sir,” Another maid appeared and bowed right before the man himself made his presence known.

“Good evening, Mr Kim,” Hongbin rose in greeting and bowed his head. “I trust you have been well,”

Mr Kim looked at Hongbin in surprise before a small smile lit up his face. “Ah, Captain Lee. It certainly was not your arrival that I was expecting this beautiful night. But, I must say, as surprising as it is, it isn’t entirely so, either.”

Hongbin pursed his lips. That was a tad too cryptic for his liking. “I have no idea what that means, sir, I’m sorry,”

Mr Kim waved a hand at him and asked him to seat himself instead. “Matters not. I think I know why you are here, Captain. I will answer all of your questions in time. But please, I would appreciate if you allowed me to draft a few letters of importance before you take my time. I must say my final goodbye, I think. My son deserves at least one last letter explaining my side,” his smile turned rueful.

Hongbin blinked. Final letters? Goodbye? What was the man talking about? Did the man know about the kill list? Was he already aware of what Hongbin was? He watched dumbfounded as two maids carried in a small table with scrolls of parchment, an ink tablet, a few brushes, some water in a small cup and a piece of cloth. 

He sat watching from the sidelines as Mr Kim drafted and sealed two documents and just as he began to dip the brush to start writing another one, a maid appeared with refreshments in a tray and placed them on the table.

“Please enjoy the snacks, masters,” she bowed deep, but there was something about her voice that raised the hairs on the back of Hongbin’s neck. It was a little too high pitched, almost as if the person was trying too hard.

As she retreated, Mr Kim looked at Hongbin and gave him a small smile. “Ah, you might think of me as an absolutely manner less host, but please, refrain from even touching those snacks. You will know of the reason shortly,” 

Hongbin didn’t know what to think of it all. It was just so strange, the entire ordeal. Mr Kim’s behaviour was starting to peeve him out just a bit when the man seemingly finished his last letter and sealed it with the dripping hot wax and punched the Kim family crest to set it in place.

“I’m truly sorry you will be witnessing this,” The man raised one of the glasses to his lips and smiled apologetically before consuming the contents in one go. “I hope you let Wonshik know how sorry I am for everything, please,”

It all happened so fast Hongbin couldn’t have done anything to stop it. Mr Kim’s hand jerked even as he was chugging the drink and his eyes rolled back into his skull. His breathing became ragged, short, and there were strange noises alike whistling coming right from somewhere deep within. The final straw was when a sort of foam emerged from the corners of his mouth and his head lolled to settle in between his shoulders.

Maids came running down the hallways, guards alerting each other of a possible intruder and everything was almost haywire. Hongbin simply didn’t understand. He felt his heart beat faster and harder, and even though he had not touched a particle of the food, his breath fell short. His ears felt as if somebody had stuffed cloth in them, he could hear nothing. A sharp ringing sensation overtook as he watched Mr Kim get pulled onto a stretcher and moved into some inner chamber.

As if pulled by some outside force, Hongbin got his feet to start moving when something struck him as odd. The maid from earlier who had served the refreshments was no-where to be seen. That shouldn’t have been. He ran out to the front yard and looked around. It was too silent. Nobody was guarding the entrance of the mansion.

Walking little ways, he found the garments of that maid abandoned beneath a tree in the yard and he picked them up, a frown on his face. It struck him then, it had been premeditated, after all. Mr Kim had somehow known of his imminent death and it all made sense, his saying he had been expecting another and not him.

Somebody had been out to get Mr Kim, the same man who was the last on Hongbin’s kill list. 

Strange.

☙⚔❧

Hongbin was, so to say, beyond confused. It was much too late into the night when the moon was casting a soft glow and he rode Windflower with a frown on his face. He was on his way back to the palace grounds, back from work. Work that was not finished, not by him, at least.

As always, he’d snuck into the target’s home just as the last of the lanterns were extinguished and the night watch began to take over the evening batch. Dressed in all black, he was able to get to Mr Park’s chambers quickly, and without detection. He managed to slip in quietly and pulled out the small dagger he would have needed.

Except, there was no need. What he had assumed to be the man’s sleeping body turned out to be cold on touch despite the warmth of the room he was in and his breathing was non-existent. The man was dead if Hongbin had to say, and that was before Hongbin had even plunged the dagger into Mr Park’s neck.

He would have thought it a natural death if not for a single petal that was placed on top of the man’s forehead, right in the centre. A red petal of a flower he couldn’t place the name of, but it was familiar, somehow. He backed away, his throat parched. Somebody had clearly done the deed just before he’d managed to break in. He left soon.

Hongbin’s thoughts wouldn’t stop wandering back to the peaceful look on Mr Park’s dead face. It was so, so unnerving. And it was all so, so strange.

He pulled the reins on Windflower, pulling the horse to a stop. He got off of it in one smooth motion and tied the rope to a tree he found. “I’ll come back shortly, Flower,” He petted the horse on one side and let it nuzzle its snout against his cheek.

Hongbin needed answers, and he would get them. He needed to look for more clues. He needed to know of the flower, and why in the world it ticked at something in his memory but nothing came to the forefront of his mind. He didn’t like it in the least.

“Oh, it’s a surprise to see you here, soldier,”

Hongbin whipped around to look at the dancer – no, the doctor, Hakyeon – with his eyes wide. What? “Uhh,” He didn’t know how to reply.

“Isn’t it a little late, soldier?” Hakyeon asked, a small smile inviting a reply.

Hongbin did not like the smile. It was just not the same as he’d seen all those years ago when the man had been smiling up at another, his eyes sparkling. The smile he shot at Hongbin was, so to say, just a little creepy. “It is just as late for you, doctor,”

The smile grew. “Ah, but I came by to pick up some herbs that only can be picked at this time,” He waved a hand towards the basket he had propped up against one hip.

Hongbin nodded slowly.

“I, uh, I came to apologise,” The man said when the silence between the two began to stretch.

Hongbin raised an eyebrow.

“That night, when you’d come by and I’d asked you to leave, I was not in the right state of mind. I apologise for my behaviour, soldier.”

Hongbin nodded in acceptance.

The man’s smile came back up. It still didn’t reach his eyes. “Can I ask you to accompany me back to my house, then? I would like to apologise properly with some tea,”

Hongbin didn’t want that. “I’m sorry. I should have gotten back to the palace by now. The late-night patrol should have been completed a while ago. Maybe next time?”

“I shall hold you to that, soldier,”

Hongbin failed to realise he had absolutely forgotten what he had meant to do before he came across the man. The red flower remained forgotten.

☙⚔❧

He’d gone by Mr Kim’s to get answers but was only left with more questions. What in the world was going on? And why did it all seem to be interconnected? It felt almost as if his asking questions was wrong, as if that was only going to bring about destruction.

Hongbin walked the path almost not noticing where he was going until he ambled right up to the entrance of Hakyeon’s small home, a place he had begun to call home a while back as well. It was familiar and it was exactly what he needed at the moment.

To his surprise, Hakyeon wasn’t home. His door was closed shut and Hongbin wondered where in the world the man could have gone to when it was already so late in the night. He shrugged to himself before stepping in any way. Their relationship gave him that much freedom, he assumed.

If there was one thing that struck as odd, Hakyeon’s home was almost a little too impersonal. Hakyeon had not left any trinkets or dolls or anything of the sort that were commonly on display in any home. Hakyeon’s home was simply his workplace. Hongbin had asked, of course, over the course of the six months that they had become acquaintances and then a little more, but Hakyeon had always said the same, that he didn’t like anything materialistic.

Hongbin sat himself on the rocking chair Hakyeon had placed in one corner and waited on. He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but he had begun to doze off. Those days, he somehow felt tired even when he wouldn’t have done much all day. And the craving for Hakyeon’s tea was almost laughable. He did wonder at one point if he was becoming addicted to it.

He decided to make himself a pot either way and puttered around the small kitchen Hakyeon had set up outside. With tea in hand, when he walked back in, his eyes immediately landed on the shrine that Hakyeon had once told him to not ever touch, or even ask about. Hongbin had obliged, but only because Hakyeon had seemed abjectly sad when he’d said it.

He couldn’t help wonder, however, what was in that one letter. Curiosity overcoming rational thought, Hongbin placed his cup of tea on a stool nearby and bent to pick up the letter. He noticed that the locket was missing, but he also knew Hakyeon almost always kept the locket on his person. The box was there on the table, but Hongbin, again, already knew it housed a ruby ring.

The parchment of the letter felt fragile in his hands, and he carefully unfolded it. The handwriting was neat, slant and the characters were clear. The one thing that jumped out at him was the seal. It was from the palace. He frowned.

“Lee Hongbin!”

Hongbin nearly dropped the letter in his haste to keep it back on the table. Before he could, it was snatched from his hands.

“How dare you touch something that I have explicitly told you not to ever touch,” Hakyeon’s face was the epitome of fury.

Hongbin held his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I was curious,”

“Out,” Hakyeon nearly screamed in his face. “Get out, and do not ever come back, understand?”

Hongbin opened his mouth to protest but Hakyeon cut him off.

“I do not want any explanation, Lee Hongbin. I need you out. Out!" he snarled. 

Hongbin could tell Hakyeon was in no mood to listen to him. Muttering an apology, he stumbled out of the doorway.

But the name on the letter jumped out at him.

Sanghyuk, it said. And he now had one more question added to his never ending list.

Who was Sanghyuk?

☙⚔❧

In the beginning, Hongbin had been reluctant to go by Hakyeon’s place for that tea he had so graciously invited him for that one particular night. But, it suddenly seemed as if everywhere he turned to, Hakyeon was always there. He’d started to find him in the most inconspicuous places, and even in the palace grounds once when Hakyeon had claimed he had come down to get some advice from the Royal Doctors.

And he realised there could have only been so many times he declined the offer for tea before he felt obligated to accept it. When he did, however, he silently berated himself for not having done it earlier. The tea was delicious, unlike anything he’d ever had before. He’d asked then, what was the mix of herbs Hakyeon blended the tea with, but Hakyeon had simply smiled and told him it was a secret.

Hongbin hadn’t questioned it further.

Their friendship formed slowly. It wasn’t something that forged overnight. Hongbin tread carefully not wanting to get off on another wrong track with Hakyeon. Their first proper encounter had left him feeling the after-effects of it for a long time, and he did not want a repeat.

If there had been one thing Hongbin couldn’t help but be curious about, it was all the different herbs and the myriads of potions Hakyeon seemed to brew. He’d sit with his cup of tea in hands and his legs hanging off of one the workbenches as Hakyeon puttered about, picking up bits of various herbs and mixing them together.

“You have to teach me,” He’d said once as he watched Hakyeon measure half a spoon of sugar and dump it into a pot of boiling stock of parsley.

“Teach you what?” Hakyeon had asked.

“Teach me how to make some of these draughts you make,” He’d swung himself off the table and walked over to the glass pitchers on a shelf, each labelled. “I’ve seen people with grave illnesses come by, almost dying,” He’d trailed a finger along one of the labels, “and yet, I’ve never seen any of your patients die. You cure them all,”

“What are you implying?” Hakyeon had frozen in place.

“It feels like you have magic in your hands, hyung,”

Hakyeon had stared at him then, his eyes slightly wide but quickly shook himself out of it. “There is no such thing as magic, Hongbin,” And he’d given a small smile. The same smile that he usually had on his face. The one that never reached his eyes.

Hongbin frowned then. “But it is a nice thought, isn’t it? That somebody could help cure with magic,”

Hakyeon had sighed, had crept closer to Hongbin and placed a hand to cup one of his cheeks. “You’re still young, soldier. You’re so naïve,”

Hongbin hadn’t liked the look that flitted across Hakyeon then, but before he could have asked, Hakyeon was already smiling and telling him about something one of the kids in the neighbourhood had done, and the moment was gone.

Another time, another day, and Hongbin had had some time off that he decided to spend with Hakyeon when noticed something amiss. He’d simply been looking around Hakyeon’s workplace when a particular few glass jars jumped out at him from an inconspicuous corner of the room, almost hidden behind a large rucksack that seemed to have been placed strategically for them to be hidden.

He’d walked over only to find the contents of the jars a little horrifying. He was no doctor by any means, but he was an assassin of sorts, and that gave him enough knowledge about poisonous herbs. Without a doubt, he knew Hakyeon had been hiding something.

“What do you have these poisons for?” Hongbin had almost accused.

Hakyeon had looked on calmly. “Ah, I’ve been looking for antidotes for these,”

Hongbin had found the answer acceptable. It wasn’t until he’d been back on his way home that he’d realised that those particular herbs already did have antidotes. He knew, because at times, he resorted to using those same poisons on his missions. They were rare, yes, but not absolutely fatal to anybody who knew the properties to those.

Hakyeon, he’d decided then, would always remain an enigma.

☙⚔❧

As he walked back, Hongbin felt almost as if somebody was jumping with unnecessary vigour on top of his head. The slight headache from before he’d visited Mr Kim’s mansion had grown into something he couldn’t ignore. He truly needed some of that tea. He sighed to himself as he let himself into his chambers.

He wasn’t exactly sure what it was that he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a letter addressed to him with the Kim family crest on the wax seal lying on top of his table. Frowning, he picked the letter up and perched on the stool to read it.

_Captain Lee,_

_I’m extremely sorry you would have to witness my demise the way you probably already have by the time you get around to reading this. It was not my intention to keep you there, but there are some things, many things that you are not in the least aware of. I would have personally answered your questions, but I had not the time. It doesn’t escape me what you had come by for, Captain._

_As for all the questions you seem to be having, let me tell you one thing. Hakyeon isn’t who you believe him to be. He isn’t simply a doctor. Yes, he does very much treat those who come by. He most definitely does help provide them with medicines and such. It simply isn’t all there is to him. There is so, so much you have been kept in the dark about._

_I’d suggest you ask him about Sanghyuk if you want any of the answers. Hakyeon will be bound to get angry when you mention that name, but this is possibly the only way. Do not let it deter you when he asks you to get out. Hakyeon will not take it lightly when you mention the name. But it is necessary for you to know the entire story._

_Let me also tell you that while my demise is most definitely Hakyeon’s doing, I have nothing against him, however. I understand his pain. I should have thought about my actions earlier, but it was not until Wonshik had become estranged that my mind caught up with the consequences of my actions. Everything is my fault. I lost my only son to my mistakes._

_I should have not been as greedy, but I was. I should have not agreed to help the King with his plans, but I did. There are a lot of things I regret in this lifetime and I sure wish my son would never have done anything he would regret at any time. I trust him enough to know he will lead a noble life._

_Let me enlighten you about another thing. The King’s plan to eradicate all traces of magic is what the root cause of everything is. I’m not entirely sure how much of it you are even remotely aware of, considering the fact that the King would never involve more people than necessary, but every single person you have been asked to take care of has somehow been involved in that one plan of His Majesty’s._

_Magic, I am utterly sure you are wondering if I have somehow lost my mind because of my awareness of my impending death, but I need to make sure you understand. I am not under the influence of anybody or anything. I simply want to make you aware of things that are probably beyond your understanding at this point._

_I think, for the first time in a long while, I am acting on what I feel is the right thing to do. Magic exists. It exists in various forms. And it is usually something that comes to a person by birth. The Royal Family, however, had been cursed a few hundred years ago that magic would never touch them, owing to the grand misuse of it. That angered the entire family, of course. But, it had not been acted upon mostly._

_That was until the current King came into power. The man holds an absolute hatred so deep he wanted all traces of something he could never dream to possess gone, no traces of it. He found out and made a list of all the people living on these lands, who have any semblance of magic and had them taken down to the underground prisons. I am not entirely sure of what might have transpired in there, but I am sure you can imagine._

_To get them caught, he had compiled a group of men from his court who simply wanted to be in his good books and had them drag every magic wielder off to the palace. But, of course, the man is nothing if not meticulous. He has now enlisted you to take care of all the men who had helped with the magic eradication mission._

_You now have to choose your battles carefully, Captain. I am merely warning you that this is much larger than what you might have thought. I do certainly hope you make the right decisions. I wish you well._

_Lastly, I would like to thank you for not abandoning Wonshik. Please, do continue to care for that child of mine, and do tell him how very apologetic I am for how we fell apart. I realise now, but I know it is too late._

_Thanking You_

_Royal Secretary Kim_

☙⚔❧

"You seem to really like these flowers," Hongbin commented as he watched him pick deep red flowers and sniff at them from the gardener's cart in the market.

Hakyeon turned to face him with one of the flowers tucked behind his ear and another held halfway to his nose, a small smile playing on his face, "Yes, I absolutely adore them. They hold an especially special place in my heart,"

Hongbin nodded. But, there was something about those flowers that was extremely familiar. He had seen them somewhere, and has most definitely placed them in a metaphorical box of extreme importance in his mind somewhere, but as with anything else when he was in the presence of Hakyeon, he simply couldn't remember. That was the effect the other had on him. He would almost be too embarrassed about admitting it if he wasn't so smitten.

"Oh, Hongbin," Hakyeon called out as he walked away from the flowers and towards one of the other stalls. "I wouldn't want you buying me these, however,"

Hongbin tilted his head, confused. "Why not? If you like them, wouldn't you be happy to receive them?"

"No," Hakyeon answered. "I wouldn't be happy, especially if it was to be you giving it to me. The sentiment would be lost then, wouldn't it? It would make no sense," 

"I don't understand," Hongbin frowned and pulled Hakyeon away to a mostly deserted street to speak, "How would any sentiment be lost? You _are_ aware of just how taken I am by you, aren't you? I like you a lot,"

"Sure," Hakyeon replied. Holding a hand up to cup his cheek, he leaned in and placed a kiss across Hongbin's high cheek bone and another one at the corner of the junction of his lips, and whispered, "but you aren't him," 

Hongbin was still reeling from almost kiss to his mouth that it was too late by the time he realised what Hakyeon had said, and the moment to prod further was lost.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☙⚔❧

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hongbin walked in almost a daze, his head pounding with a new found fervour, and the confusion coursing thickly through it all. What in the world was even happening? But, somewhere at the back of his mind, there were so, so many things about Hakyeon that were finally clicking into place, like missing pieces of a puzzle he had been trying very hard to solve. 

He found himself in front of Hakyeon's gateway once again, but he wasn't entirely surprised. What was unexpected, however, was finding Hakyeon standing at the entrance, as if awaiting his arrival. He was stood with a large thick coat pulled around his body.

"Come in," Hakyeon motioned to the house and stepped in without waiting for a reply. Somehow, his voice was so cold Hongbin almost froze.

When Hongbin walked in, Hakyeon was already setting up a small table with some fresh tea poured into two cups and a plate of sweet treats. He toed off his boots at the entrance and with great difficulty, held himself from glancing at the altar. He placed himself into one of the two cushions at the table and promptly grabbed a cup of tea. It was a small reprieve. 

Hakyeon sat himself down as well and pulled his own cup of tea towards himself. "I shouldn't have lost my temper, but I did. I have told you explicitly, and many times at that, Lee Hongbin, that I did not want you touching anything on that altar with your dirty hands. How can you not understand something so simple?

I should have not put that much faith in you, after all, you are from the palace. What more can I expect?" Hakyeon conitued without waiting for a reply. "I would have to think you have probably read whatever your revered royal secretary had to say and are here for answers?" He sneered.

Hongbin felt numb. It was almost as if he wasn't sitting there in front of Hakyeon, no. That wasn't the Hakyeon he knew. The man he had painstakingly taken the time to learn about was compassionate, and kind, and so, so beautiful. The man in front of him at the moment was none of those things. And it scared him, deeply. 

The tea, however, was the same. It soothed him, made his head clear so quickly, it frightened him anew. Gripping the cup tighter in his hands and looking up to meet Hakyeon's eyes, he finally uttered what had been running through his mind since he read the letter. "You are the one who kept leaving those red flowers, aren't you?"

Hakyeon laughed, a rough sound that grated in the atmosphere between the two. "I am absolutely beyond surprised it took you this much time to figure it out, soldier. I was very generous with my clues, wasn't I? I would have thought you smarter," 

"Why?" Hongbin croaked. He felt arrested, his limbs felt like lead and he was beginning to realise that wasn't normal. Something had been done to him, but he couldn't tell what. 

"Why, what, soldier?" Hakyeon stood and prod at Hongbin's legs. Satisfied when it wasn't moving reflexively, he settled back into his cushions once again. "Ask me clearly," 

"Why have you been killing those men in my stead? Why did you get close to me? What is your motive?" 

"One at a time, soldier," Hakyeon replied almost cheerfully. "Why have I been killing them? That's simple," he looked directly into Hongbin's eyes and pinned them down with the fire burning through him, "revenge," 

Hongbin gulped. He had never, ever seen such a look on anybody, let alone on Hakyeon. It shook him deep. "No," he muttered, and tried to shake his head, only to realise it was arrested in place as well. "No, you are not such a person as to kill for revenge,"

Hakyeon was in front of Hongbin within seconds, his hand gripping the other's chin ferociously and pulling it up, his eyes bore as if into his very soul and he spat, "What the hell do you even know about me?" 

Hongbin desperately wanted to pull back.

"You know nothing. You never have. You only know what I showed you, and you were dumb enough to fall into my grip. So easy," he smiled. "You are nothing but a pawn in this game. Disposable and absolutely cheap. You hold no power, soldier. And neither does your King," 

"No," Hongbim muttered. He wondered if he said it enough times, if it would pull him out of whatever this was. "No, no"

Hakyeon pulled back. Thrusting a hand into the undershirt he was wearing, he pulled out the locket. "You want to what is this, don't you?" He unclasped it from around his neck and placed it in Hongbin's hands. 

Hongbin wanted to say he couldn't move his hands when a sudden warmth flowed through his blood vessels and he could will his body to move once again. Gently, under the scrutiny of Hakyeon's watchful eyes, he rolled the locket around until he found a tiny clasp and opened it.

A gasp fell out of his mouth as the locket fell open in his hands. He gingerly went to touch the lock of hair that was just as soft and silky to touch as it looked. But it shouldn't have been, it should have been dry, considering it was cut. "Is this," he choked, unable to continue. 

"It is his," Hakyeon confirmed, his voice a tad unstable. 

Hongbin closed his eyes shut. He took a few deep breaths. "What about," he trailed off, gesturing to the shrine. A similar ruby ring, he suddenly noticed, was also hanging around Hakyeon's neck in a thin silver chain. He'd never noticed it before. 

Hakyeon's hand flew to touch the one on his body. "It is for him. He was my betrothed, after all," 

"Sanghyuk?" Hongbin asked in a small voice.

"Sanghyuk," 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☙⚔❧

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hakyeon's earliest memory was from when he barely one year old. His mother had laid him in a makeshift cradle as she puttered around the kitchen to make food for their family. He had been soundly asleep when he suddenly woke up to his body floating in midair and it had fascinated him so much that he cackled loudly.

His mother came running from where she was stirring a pot of stew and almost cried when her baby wouldn't come back down. Tendrils of soft pick reached his floating body and he loved the prettiness of it so much that he tried catching them. That pulled him down and into his mother's waiting arms.

She patted his face with tears in her eyes and cradled him to her chest, "Oh, baby. I am so sorry. I did not want this for you, no," 

It had become routine since then, for him to do something that was not normal for many other babies, especially of his age. His mother would never scold him when he would show up with flowers he somehow created out of thin air or water he made stream from the ground. She always, always looked so sad instead.

As he grew older, he realised he was different. He must have been five or six winters old when his mother and father sat him down to explain to him.

"Hakyeonnie, do you notice how you can do some things your friends cannot?" his mother asked as she sat him in her lap.

Hakyeon nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! They cannot make the flowers grow. Why not? Do you know?" 

His father nodded then. "That is because you are magic, Hakyeonnie. You have something very special running through you. You are so special, my child," 

"Oh, but Wonshikkie is special too. He can write already!" Hakyeon exclaimed.

"Yes, Wonshikkie is special too. But you are a different kind of special, Hakyeon," his father said, holding on to his tiny hands. 

Hakyeon's eyes began to water. "Am I bad? Is that why I'm different? Is that why you are always so sad? I'm a bad boy," he cried earnestly.

His mother wiped away the big, fat tears that rolled down his cheeks. "No, baby," she shushed him, "No, you are wonderful. But you know, when we go to pick fruits, we always pick the ripest and most colourful ones. You are like that. People will pick on you because of how special you are,"

"And we don't want you to hurt," his father continued. "We want you so, so safe, Hakyeonnie. We love you so much, precious," 

Hakyeon tried very hard to stop crying. "I love you, too,"

"We know," his mother pecked his cheeks and his father smiled. "That is exactly why we want to make sure you do not show your flower making skills to anybody but your sisters and us. Do you understand?"

"Not even Wonshikkie?" Hakyeon asked, his eyes drooping. "I like him a lot," 

"No, not even Wonshikkie," his father smiled sadly. "We are sorry, baby. But we love you too much and don't want to lose you,"

Hakyeon nodded at the time, not understanding too much, but listened to his parents anyway. He realised as he grew older, however, just how right his parents were when they'd told him to keep his magic hidden.

His mother was a weilder as well, and she taught him extremely well how to mask it. He knew perfectly well to make it seem like he had not a drop of magic in his blood. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hakyeon was twenty three winters old when father fell ill one autumn, and there was simply no amount of magic that was seeming to help him. 

"Mother, I'm worried," Hakyeon muttered once out of ear shot of his father. His sisters had taken to airing out the room their father had been sleeping in.

"I am too," his mother sighed. "I think we might need to enlist the help of a normal human doctor. I know of one, a non magic weilder. Will you please go fetch him?" 

And thus Hakyeon set out down the path his mother had told him to follow. It was in the town next to theirs, the capital, and he found the place surprisingly without much trouble. Everybody seemed to know of the doctor. 

"Doctor Han?" He called out from the entrance, as he waited around awkwardly. 

"Come in," a voice called from the inside and it sounded suspiciously young. Not a voice he would expect out of a doctor that seemed to be well acclaimed. 

He was about to enter the house when a man peeked out from the inside, a few red flowers held in his hand and Hakyeon was stumped. Not only was the doctor not old, he was also extremely handsome. 

"Ah, I wasn't expecting someone so young as a doctor," he muttered and smiled. "Doctor, my father is ill and I was wondering if you could come over to our town not too far from here to take a look at him?" 

The man laughed. "I'm not the doctor. That would be my father," he stepped away from the entrance and gestured for Hakyeon to enter. "I'm afraid he is a few towns over on another visit. I'm not sure how long it will take him to get back," 

Hakyeon stilled. "Would you know of anybody else who could help me, then?"

"No, there isn't anybody else nearby," The man tilted his head. "If you wouldn't mind, I could come and take a look. I'm not my father, but he has taught me all my life and I do know how to recognise the symptoms," 

Hakyeon contemplated it and in the end, he nodded his agreement. "I would appreciate that, thank you very much, Doctor Han,"

"Please, call me Sanghyuk. Doctor Han is still my father," the man — Sanghyuk laughed again and Hakyeon couldn't help but find himself a little star struck. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hakyeon was left only more impressed with the young doctor when the man managed to not only cure his father of the disease but also helped his father regain all the strength in his muscles that he had lost when he was bedridden.

"Thank you so much, Doctor Han," Hakyeon and his sisters bowed to him. "You are truly a Godsend," 

"Please, I already told you to call me Sanghyuk," Sanghyuk ducked his head and blushed slightly. 

"Please, son, let my child accompany you back to your home. It is quite late in the night and these paths aren't very safe," Hakyeon's mother patted Sanghyuk on his arm, because the man was too tall for her to reach his shoulder even. She had packed some food for him when she heard his father wasn't home and he was missing home cooked food. 

"Ah, no, madam. There will be no such necessity," Sanghyuk shook his head. 

"I insist," she said as she placed the food in Hakyeon's hands and told her son to make sure the doctor would be safe. Hakyeon understood what she meant. Darkness attracted things of dark nature.

"You seem to love your family a lot, Hakyeon-ssi," Sanghyuk commented as they walked the edges of the forest area that was just beginning to dot their path with wilderness and trees. 

"I do," Hakyeon smiled. "I value them a lot, doctor,"

"Again with the doctor," Sanghyuk muttered with a small frown. 

"As long as you are going to be formal with me, I will have to do the same," Hakyeon stuck his tongue out for a second before feeling silly and pulled it back in immediately.

Sanghyuk laughed at him. "I guess that makes sense. How old are you, then?" 

"Twenty three winters old," Hakyeon replied, a flush warming his cheeks greatly. He fanned them a bit with his hands. It was supposed to be autumn! Why was he suddenly feeling so warm? 

"Oh, you're the hyung, then. I am but twenty winters old," Sanghyuk smiled at him cheekily. "And here I thought you were much younger, what with the sticking out your tongue and all,"

Hakyeon pouted. "What does that have to do with age? I'm still so young,"

Feeling a little peeved at being called childish, he set out on a much faster pace, intending to leave Sanghyuk a little behind him. In his haste to get away, however, he failed to notice the stillness of the forest and screamed shrilly when his boot caught on a twig and snapped it, the sound echoing loudly.

Sanghyuk immediately laughed again, catching Hakyeon's shoulder so he wouldn't fall onto the forest ground. "And here I thought you were coming along to protect me,"

"It isn't my fault it's so dark and silent. I don't prefer the darkness," Hakyeon muttered, the flush spreading further than just his cheeks. "Why the hell are your legs so damn long? You caught up so quickly, too," he almost whined, but caught himself immediately. 

"So you blame my legs, now?" Sanghyuk asked him, absolutely amused. He had an eyebrow raised. 

"Yes, of course! They are very much at fault,"

They bickered along the way and Hakyeon was truly exhausted by the time they reached the place where Sanghyuk lived. He thrust the packet of food at him and bowed to him once again. "Thank you so much. Please enjoy the food," and he turned to make his trip back.

"Wait," Sanghyuk caught his wrist suddenly and promptly snatched his hand back when he realised what he had done. A small flush blooming prettily, he asked, "Will you be okay going back alone?"

Hakyeon nodded. "Yes, I know the way back,"

"That isn't what I meant. I asked you because I wouldn't want you being scared on your way back," 

"Are you still making fun of me?" Hakyeon wanted to hit him on the head, but damn the tall man. 

"No, I'm genuinely worried," 

Hakyeon fell silent. 

"You could… I have a spare bed. My father isn't here tonight. You can sleep here. And go back tomorrow?" 

"Would I not be imposing on you?"

"Absolutely not,"

"Okay, then. I might have to take you up on that offer. It is much too dark. Thank you so much,"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hakyeon found the oddest reasons to visit Sanghyuk since the day he met him. He simply wanted to make a new friend, was all. He was bored of Wonshik, after all. He had nothing new to offer. Scholarly knowledge was proving to be a bit too bland for his taste. 

"My mother said the cows are sick," 

"I don't know why but our dog keeps barking," they did not even own a dog.

"Doctor, please help me. The cats are chasing the dog away. Should it not be the other way around?" 

He knocked on Sanghyuk's door once again, another stupid reason at the tip of his tongue when Sanghyuk shot him one look and he shut up.

Sanghyuk pulled the door open and stepped aside to let him in. "You do know you do not need any specific reason to visit, do you not, hyung?"

Hakyeon clammed up. "Really?" He asked, wonder lacing his voice. 

"Of course not," Sanghyuk rolled his eyes. "We even slept together. Why are you so shy still?" 

Sanghyuk's father cleared his throat loudly at that and Hakyeon coloured a deep red. He hit Sanghyuk on the chest and buried his face in his shoulder. "Can you not say something so misleading? He is going to misunderstand," 

Doctor Han laughed at that. "I was there that night, as well. Come now, Hakyeon. Do you not remember?" 

Hakyeon coloured even more. "That is even more misleading, father doctor!" 

That first night he had come to drop Sanghyuk home, and when he'd been asked to stay over, Sanghyuk's father had come back home and Hakyeon had needed to share a bed with Sanghyuk. But the way they said it was so easy to misunderstad.

"Oh, Hakyeon, you wound me. I would never ever say anything remotely misleading. That would be wrong on my part as a doctor. Should I not always make sure to tell it as it is?" Doctor Han patted him on the shoulder. "You are so easy to embarrass,"

Sanghyuk laughed with his father and Hakyeon wanted to run away or maybe the earth could open up and swallow him whole, instead. He wouldn't mind. He groaned. "I just might stop coming around," 

"That would be a shame now, wouldn't it?" Sanghyuk pulled Hakyeon closer, his hands resting at his waist.

"Would it, really?" Hakyeon tilted his head as he looked up. He still resented just how tall Sanghyuk was. "Or would you simply not have anyone to make fun of anymore?"

Sanghyuk looked into his eyes. "Both, I guess. But more because I was thinking of the fair that is coming up and how nice it would be if you were to visit it with me," 

"Are you trying to court me, Han Sanghyuk?" Hakyeon asked slowly, his voice dropped low. He vaguely wondered where father doctor had disappeared to.

"And if I were to say yes, what would you do?" Sanghyuk asked equally quietly. He leaned in closer to Hakyeon, their faces only inches apart.

"I would say yes, of course," Hakyeon's eyes shot to the floor, his cheeks infused with warmth. He simply couldn't stop smiling.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hakyeon walked with a spring in his step, his hand connected to Sanghyuk's, their fingers intertwined. A large smile had bloomed on his face and he kept ducking down to not make eye contact with any of the people around them.

The market place was always lively, but the fair only served to make it livelier. Colourful stalls decked the streets on either side, lanterns strung up along the roofs of the different buildings and overlapped to create various patterns. 

"Why do you keep looking down?" Sanghyuk asked, a little miffed. "Am I doing something wrong?" 

Hakyeon shook his head, his eyes still trained down. He gulped a little before answering, "No, no," he turned his eyes up, "I'm afraid I cannot stop blushing. I don't want people to notice," 

Sanghyuk stopped in the middle of their trek towards a food stall that had caught his attention and instead dragged Hakyeon towards a gardener's cart. He picked out beautiful red flowers, his favourite kind and asked for them to be strung together.

He then promptly placed those flowers on top of Hakyeon's head and arranged them so they wouldn't fall off easily. He leaned closer to an even more furiously blushing Hakyeon and whispered, "You are just as beautiful as these flowers, hyung. Let people admire you," 

Hakyeon's jaw dropped open. He quickly smacked Sanghyuk's arm and stalked away to get some of that food. In vain, of course. Sanghyuk was still impossibly tall with long, long legs and he caught up soon. "I so hate you," Hakyeon muttered as he felt a heavy arm sneak onto his shoulder.

"I believe you," Sanghyuk replied, walking on.

The crowd had somehow pushed them towards a clearing of sorts where a travelling troop was performing. There were two men playing a wind and a string instrument, and another in the center of the crowd who was dancing gracefully to the music. 

The performer stopped a few minutes after they found themselves mix in with the crowd and a new troop member came forward to announce, "This is our best man. We assure you, there can be nobody who can perform as well as him,"

The crowd cheered loudly and clapped with vigour. The performer truly had been brilliant to watch, after all. 

"I don't agree," Sanghyuk called out suddenly and Hakyeon's eyes grew wide as he looked at him in surprise. 

"What do you not agree with, young man?" The announcer made his way through the crowd and came to a stop in front of Sanghyuk.

"I do not agree that your performer is the best. He was amazing, yes. But I know someone who can put your performer to shame if he danced," 

Hakyeon gulped, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"Is that so? Call upon him then," the announcer challenged. 

Sanghyuk smiled widely and pushed Hakyeon forward by his shoulders. "Go on, hyung. Show your charm," 

Hakyeon froze. "Sanghyuk, no! I only ever dance for leisure. I am no professional! What are you doing?" He whispered, horrified.

"Trust me, hyung. You are amazing," 

The crowd had managed to somehow push Hakyeon to the forefront and the music simply started to flow all around him. He wanted to run away, but the sincere look on Sanghyuk's face made him want to try and so he closed his eyes and let the music guide him. 

He wasn't aware of anything but the beautiful melody that filled his brain and he moved as it wanted him to. He watched the crowd as he utilised the circle to its extent and it only filled him with a warmth anew to see people watch him with auch beautiful expressions, as if he was wondrous. His arms and legs felt like water but he was conscious enough to keep the silent thrum of magic in check, lest he did something disastrous.

When the music came to a stop, so did he. Exhilarated beyond belief, he drifted back to Sanghyuk who was smiling up at him. With a sudden burst of courage, he leaned in and placed a kiss to his cheek."I think I may like you a little too much, Sanghyuk," 

"And I think I share the sentiment, hyung,"

It was when the crowd had dispersed and the two began to walk back home hand in hand that Hakyeon was suddenly so overcome with emotion that he turned to face Sanghyuk and looked into his beautiful eyes. The night sky was a deep blue above them and the lanterns that were still burning painted the image of a thousand stars looking down upon them.

"Hyung?" Sanghyuk cocked his head. 

"Sanghyuk," he whispered and pushed up on his toes to reach Sanghyuk's face and cupped it before reaching up to close the distance between them and pressed their lips together. 

Sanghyuk inhaled sharply at the contact but promptly held on to his waist as he shifted a little to better the angle. One hand resting on Hakyeon's waist, he cupped Hakyeon's face with the other and stroked feather light across his lower lip, prompting it to open. 

Hakyeon's lips willingly fell apart, his hands reaching to clutch at the material of Sanghyuk's robes and when Sanghyuk's mouth pressed back to his, wet and soft but insistent, his breath fell short. 

Sanghyuk smiled against his lips before pressing closer and curled a finger under Hankeyon's jaw and the surprised gasp that fell from Hakyeon's lips was all that he needed to push his tongue in. Hakyeon falling apart in his arms was a spectacular sensation.

Hakyeon blushed a deep red when he heard himself make sounds he never thought possible and clutched on tighter.

Sanghyuk breathed out a puff of laughter as he pulled away and looked at Hakyeon's pretty, pretty face. Unable to resist, he pressed in once again and then again and then again until the two were weak in the knees and breathing heavily, clothes crumpled and a light sheen of sweat made them shine in the moonlight.

When they finally parted, Hakyeon couldn't help the warmth that spread through him and he happily pecked Sanghyuk's cheek once before dragging him by the arm and grumbling about how they were getting too late.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Wonshik, I like him so much," Hakyeon held the red flower crown delicately in his hand. It had been a few weeks since they'd gone out, but the flowers had yet to wilt. And if he had a hand in it, they never would. 

He was perched upon the cushions strategically placed in Wonshik's living room. Wonshik's father was the royal secretary and yet Wonshik preferred to live in a small estate a few towns away from the capital city.

"You've said that many times. I'm tired of hearing it," Wonshik grumbled. "What do your parents say?" 

Hakyeon sighed. "Come outside with me," he didn't want to have that conversation within the walls of the house. Walls, after all, had ears.

Wonshik lead them to the small clearing in the forests they used to play in when little and asked, "Well?"

"You know how they are. They like him a lot, his father too, but they scare so easily when it comes to do with me. They are afraid he because he doesn't have magic," he whispered. 

Magic was something taboo in their kingdom. Their King had banned the use of it and if anybody was found to even possess a single drop of magic blood within, they would be taken away. He didn't know what was done to them, but he'd never seen anybody come back alive. He shuddered just at the thought of it. 

He did trust Wonshik explictly, however. He'd grown up with, after all. But Wonshik was the only person outside of his family who was aware of his abilities and he knew Wonshik would never, ever give him away. 

"Does he know yet?" Wonshik asked, equally quiet.

"No," He shook his head. "I'm truthfully a little bit scared about revealing it. I know I shouldn't be, because he is nothing but a gentleman. But I'm afraid he might leave me when he finds out. Its a little irrational, isn't it?" he laughed. 

"Not entirely. I do understand your concerns. Especially because it is such a risk to have what you do, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody would say they wouldn't want to be associated with," 

Hakyeon smiled sadly. "But I trust him. So much," 

Wonshik placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Why don't you let him know, then?"

"I just might. I only need the right opportunity. I want to,"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sanghyuk wasn't someone who cried easily. He hadn't, when he'd fallen from the tree he was trying to climb and had torn his knees when he was just a few winters old. He hadn't, when his mother left the world. He hadn't, when his first pet, a small cat, had perished in the harsh rains one summer.

But, his father was sick and no amount of medicine was helping and he couldn't take it. The tears simply wouldn't stop flowing. Because he knew, somehow, that his father wouldn't survive. His mother had passed on when he was much, much younger and his father was all he had. 

"I'm worried, father," He whispered as he laid down next to the man's heavily sweating body. He placed a hand on top of his father's chest and tried to calm himself down to the beat of his heart. 

"You shouldn't be, son. This is natural. Let it happen. Let me go meet with your mother," his father smiled at him.

Sanghyuk buried his face in his father's chest. His heart was breaking into shards. He couldn't imagine someone so strong and able bodied become bedridden and so, so frail. 

"I'm worried for you, instead. Whatever will you do without me?" 

"I do have Hakyeon hyung, I'm not all alone," and Sanghyuk surprised himself with just how true that was. He hadn't realised how important Hakyeon had become to him in just an year's time. 

"Doctor father! Sanghyuk!" Hakyeon stood at the doorway to the small inner bedroom, his face etched with sadness. He rushed in to where doctor father laid and knealt beside him. "Doctor father, I came as soon as I received the news," 

"Ah, Hakyeon, my child. I trust you have been well. Can you smile for me once child, please?" 

Hakyeon's heart splintered. "Doctor father, can you not speak it like this is the last time? I cannot take it," he teared. "Sanghyuk tell him not to say things so misleading,"

"Please smile for him, hyung," Sanghyuk whispered with a heavy voice.

Hakyeon looked at him, shocked beyond words. He threw himself into his arms and sobbed. "Oh, Sanghyuk, no. No, this cannot be,"

The doctor's breathing suddenly turned shallow and so, so rapid. The room fell silent immediately. The two clasping their hands tightly as they watched the light ebb away slowly from the doctor's eyes. 

Hakyeon's sadness grew into something more. His emotions absolutely awry, he was unaware of the soft glow he began to emit until a tendril and then a few more of soft pink began to curl around the doctor's body, creeping mainly towards where the heart resided. 

Sanghyuk watched in awe for a few seconds before he realised what was happening and he snatched Hakyeon's shoulder to shake him promptly. "Hyung, hyung please," 

Hakyeon was too far gone to understand the words being thrown at him. His eyes closed and all he could think of was how he didn't want doctor father to pass away.

"Hyung, no, please stop. This isn't right," Sanghyuk had managed to tug Hakyeon away and he noticed the glow lessened the further away he moved from his father. 

Hakyeon slowly shook out of the daze and as the fog cleared, he realised just what had almost transpired. Life and death were not to be meddled with. He fell to his knees. "Shit," 

Sanghyuk knealt beside him and held on to his shoulders, willing him to look up. "Hyung, let him go. He lived a happy life. Let him be happy in death, too," 

Hakyeon buried his face in Sanghyuk's chest. "I'm so sorry, Sanghyuk. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't, I swear," 

Sanghyuk held him tightly. 

That night, they held a small ceremony to make sure his soul rested in peace and did not wander about unnecessarily. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hakyeon was afraid Sanghyuk would demand for answers immediately. But the man was nothing but patient, kind as always, a little insufferable at times. 

He steeled his courage a few weeks after the passing on of doctor father as he watched Sanghyuk take over his father's job as the doctor. He'd learnt it all from him, after all.

"I am ready to tell you," He said and pulled Sanghyuk away into the inner rooms. 

"Go on, then," 

"I was born with magic. My mother, as well. She taught me to keep it in check, to make sure never to reveal. I didn't mean to hide it for so long. But I was afraid you wouldn't … ," he trailed off. 

"That I wouldn't accept it?" Sanghyuk questioned as he pulled Hakyeon closer and met his eyes. "Even if you decided to never let me know, I wouldn't hold it against you. It is a part of who you are, hyung and I accept that part of it just as much as I do the rest of you,"

He leaned down to place a kiss at the corner of his mouth and whispered, "Thank you for telling me, however. And for the trust you have put it me. I love you, hyung," 

Hakyeon teared. "I love you too, so much," he leaned in to place a proper kiss. He couldn't believe just how much his heart swelled. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


He couldn't pin point exactly when it happened, but Hakyeon had moved in with Sanghyuk somewhere along the way. He also began to help around with healing. Slowly, Sanghyuk taught him what herbs were to be mixed with what to help alleviate what symptoms. 

His speciality was to brew draughts for pain and for calm and dreamlessness and such. He had a knack for it. In the beginning, Sanghyuk had been reluctant in letting him infuse those draughts with tiny bits of magic, but he had managed to convince him that it was not harmful. It was only to amplify the potency.

Sanghyuk had been afraid. What if Hakyeon got caught? Whatever would he do, then? He couldn't lose him as well. Hakyeon had assured him that wouldn't happen and that he was stuck with him for however long an eternity lasted. 

They were happy, the two of them. A sense of domesticity had entered their lives and neither could imagine living without the other. 

About three winters after they had gone on their first date, they decided they would wed. A simple betrothal ceremony was held that was only attended by Wonshik, and Hakyeon's family.

The simple gold band with a beautiful red stone — a ruby — decked at the center and surrounded by a tiny gold flower etched into the metal was what they had managed to exchange.

Hakyeon had secretly infused the rubies with a little magic to keep them warm for as long as they were to be alive. As their light extinguished, the warmth would fade, too. 

But, happiness was subjective. It was short lived. And all good things truly did come to an end, as some wise soul had claimed. 

It all began and ended when Wonshik's father took ill one summer. Nothing Sanghyuk tried helped the man in the least and Hakyeon was worried. 

He took Sanghyuk aside one night, and whispered into his ears, "Sanghyuk, can I do something, please? I cannot see Wonshik wilt this way," 

Sanghyuk vehemently shook his head. "No, hyung. That would be dangerous. Don't do anything reckless. There are still some things we haven't tried," 

"Please, Sanghyuk, just this once," Hakyeon almost begged when nothing was there to try anymore. They had run out of all of their solutions. 

Sanghyuk agreed reluctantly to let him try a few potions. Miraculously, the man healed quickly after and they were beyond relieved. 

That night, after almost three weeks since Wonshik's father had taken ill, they slept soundly, absolutely unaware of how the calm seemed almost oppressive. 

The next morning when they woke, Hakyeon was antsy. He couldn't keep the worry at bay. "Sanghyuk, something is wrong. I can feel it. It's suffocating me," 

"Hyung, stop fidgeting," Sanghyuk admonished him as he prepared to go take a look at an older woman who was few houses down. 

But when the afternoon rolled around and Sanghyuk still hadn't returned, Hakyeon almost cried. He paced the frontyard feeling entirely too unsettled. Wonshik had come by a while earlier to thank him but seeing him so out it, he stayed behind. 

Hakyeon's heart leapt out his throat, almost when Sanghyuk came back late in the evening. "Sanghyuk, please don't scare me like that again," he cried as he embraced him tightly. 

Sanghyuk laughed. "I only went to check the patients. I do that every day, hyung. Why are you so worried?" he rubbed his back soothingly as he held him. 

Hakyeon reached up to kiss Sanghyuk as he patted him down and held him close. He had been so, so afraid. He couldn't afford to lose Sanghyuk. 

"Han Sanghyuk?" a new voice caught their attention and they pulled apart before turning towards the entrance. 

"Yes?" Sanghyuk pulled away.

Tens of men swooped into their yard from behind that one man, all dressed in soldier attire and surrounded them. The first man stalked forward and pulled out a sword. 

Hakyeon immediately placed himself in front of Sanghyuk, shielding him. The sword did not scare him. The man, however, was a different story. 

"Move, sir, unless you want to be hurt," the sword glinted sharply in the fading evening light. 

"No. Who are you? What do you want?" He demanded, ignoring Sanghyuk's weight and heavy stare behind him. 

The man simply thrust a crest of seal which clarified he was from the palace and a scroll was pulled open. He read from it, "Han Sanghyuk has been found to be practising magic, which is forbidden to even speak of in our kingdom, and henceforth will be taken away by the courts for necessitated punishment," 

"No," Hakyeon was horrified. "No, there is no Sanghyuk here. No, no," 

"Sir, we would appreciate if you moved. We wouldn't want to spill blood unnecessarily," the man glared at him, "but if you prove to be difficult, then we would have no choice," 

Sanghyuk gripped Hakyeon's shoulder and he pushed him back. "There will be no necessity of the sort. I shall come willingly. I have done nothing wrong, and I believe the court will be able to prove that," 

"No, Sanghyuk, no," Hakyeon pleaded. "Where is the proof? You cannot accuse without evidence," he cried to the main soldier. 

"The Royal Secretary Kim was cured because of the medicine provided by this man here, wasn't it?" 

The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place then, and Hakyeon's heart sank into his stomach. It was all his fault. He should have known it was magic induced, the illness. 

Wonshik, who had been standing away since the soldiers entered, fell forward. "My father?" He was ignored. 

But Sanghyuk nodded a yes before he could even begin to deny it and the stone was set in place. 

"His illness was magic induced, and thereby could only be cured by magic. It was a test. And Han Sanghyuk passed it with exceptional results. He is the healer here and is hence responsible for it,"

Sanghyuk steeled his resolve at that very moment. He knew without a doubt what Hakyeon would do and he immediately pulled him close and shielded him from the soldiers surrounding them. "Hyung, no. You are not to reveal yourself, do you understand? I will go quietly and when they find I have no magic in me, they will have to let me go. I will come back. But if they take you, I cannot survive. Please," 

Hakyeon couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks as he held on to Sanghyuk's clothes. "No, Sanghyuk. What about me? What if they don't send you back? I cannot deal with that. I love you so much. Please, let me do this. This is my fault, after all," 

"Hyung, please. I will come back, I swear," 

"Time's up," the main soldier clicked his tongue and Hakyeon was wrenched away from Sanghyuk. 

"No, there is no magic here. Please, he is an exceptional doctor is all. Don't take him away," Hakyeon cried as Sanghyuk's hands were cuffed in metal. "Why would you not investigate the matter further? This is unfair!"

He couldn't stop crying. His heart felt heavy, like stone. It was as if one strike would render it splintered into a million shards. It was all his bloody fault. 

Sanghyuk disappeared from sight so quickly, he hadn't even had the time to say his goodbye properly. But, Sanghyuk's smile just as he left, a smile filled with promise of return was etched into his mind. It could never be erased. And his one final 'I love you'.

"Hakyeon, please get up. Let's go inside," Wonshik tried to pick him up off the ground. 

But Hakyeon had no strength left in him. "It's all my fault, Wonshik. I did that. I should be the one being taken away,"

"No, neither of you deserve it, but you most definitely shouldn't be taken away. You will be killed immediately. He, at least, has a chance of survival," 

"Wonshik, don't say that. He will come back, right? Please tell me he will return. Wonshik, I will die," 

"I'm so sorry, Hakyeon," .

"No, no. Don't say sorry, please, no," 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Minutes turned into hours, hours into days, days merged into weeks, weeks into months and when it was three months since Sanghyuk was unjustly taken away and there was no news about him, Hakyeon was distraught. 

There were many moments when he would gather the courage to surrender himself, but his parents and Wonshik were always around to hold him back. They didn't want to lose him as well, they'd said. 

Wonshik had severed ties with his family when he found out about his father's hand in the ordeal. He was disgusted with his father and had explicitly told him he needed none of his riches and would be happy to live off the vegetables he had taken to farming. He had set up a small cottage for himself in fields far away from his father's estates. He was reluctant to even address the man as father. 

Four months later a package arrived at Hakyeon's doorstep. He couldn't bring himself to leave Sanghyuk's and his home and had decided to take up his job as a healer, a doctor. He was coming back from a house visit when the package caught his eye. 

He picked it up and brought it into their home. Opening it, his heart leapt into his throat. There was a letter, a small pouch that revealed a lock of hair and Sanghyuk's betrothal ring.

He unfolded the letter and seeing Sanghyuk's handwriting almost killed him.

_Dear Hakyeon hyung,_

_These people here are telling me to write you a letter, but frankly, I don't know what I am supposed to be telling you through this. Is this supposed to be a goodbye letter? I cannot say. Will they let me write another after this? I cannot say either. Whatever it is, I guess I have some things to tell you anyway._

_Time here passes differently, hyung. The days seems to pass slowly and in the beginning I did try to keep sense of it, but they have me in the dungeons here and I cannot tell when it is day or night. Also, since you are not next to me, time doesn't even seem of the essence anymore._

_I miss you dearly, hyung. I think about you all the time. Of all the moments we spent together over the past three winters, or has it been more? I wish to lay beside you again. I wish to hold you in my arms again. I wish to kiss you again. I wish, so wish to simply talk to you again. To look at you again._

_But, alas. I do not know of when I will be given that opportunity._

_I wish we could have spent more time together. You are such a beautiful person inside and out. I wish, so wish there was more time. But then I think, that would have made this separation hurt that much more, isn't it?_

_I would tell you to not worry, to be happy, to move on with your life. But I know you wouldn't do anything of the sort._

_All I ask is for you to not be reckless and put yourself in peril. It doesn't matter what happens to me. But you, hyung, you are special. And you are a necessity to those around you. I am nothing without you. But you are the life. You brighten everything around you. And your parents, they need you. So does Wonshik._

_All I have to say at this point is that I love you, hyung. I love you so much more than words can begin to express and I will keep on doing so till the end of eternity. I promise._

_Please, be well. I only ask that of you._

_Yours always_

_Sanghyuk_

"If I am the life, then you are my life, Sanghyuk. How do you expect me to live on?" Hakyeon clutched the letter to his chest as his tears fell harder down his cheeks and dripped down his jaw.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Hakyeon, this is the list of all the people involved in that mission. It is a highly classified one. Be careful," Wonshik slid him a folded sheet of parchment across the table.

"I will be," Hakyeon nodded his thanks. He did not ask him how he managed to grab a hold of it, he was simply grateful.

"I'm being serious, Hakyeon. This is extremely dangerous. I do not know what you want to do with these names, but I think I can tell. I want you to be extremely vigilant," 

"Of course," he nodded. "I only want revenge," 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☙⚔❧

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The silence that had fallen between the two was oppressive. Hongbin had long since been released from the strange arrest of movements, but he couldn't bring himself to get up from where he sat frozen on Hakyeon's floor. He hadn't realised he'd teared up somewhere along the way. 

His heart ached for Hakyeon, for Wonshik, and for Sanghyuk, too, even though he knew him not. But most of all, it hurt for himself because if what Hakyeon had said to him was the truth all along, then it meant none of the moments he shared with Hakyeon were true. They were all simply a very elaborate plan. 

He wanted to hate Hakyeon for that, to despise him, but he couldn't. He understood he only loved what was a mask but somehow, he felt there must have been some truth to it, even if well hidden. He couldn't just let go. Maybe he really was naïve, as Hakyeon had once put.

"The ring, is it still…," he trailed off, not knowing how to word the question without seeming insensitive. 

Hakyeon's hand flew up to touch the ring that rested a little below his collar bone. He clutched and squeezed it once before answering, "Cold since a few days after I received his letter," His ring had been in tune with Sanghyuk's life while the one that rested on the makeshift altar was in tune with his, and had belonged to Sanghyuk. It was still very detestably warm.

Hongbin looked down. He couldn't meet those eyes that were so, so sad yet with a maniac burn blazing through them. "I'm sorry," 

Hakyeon laughed crudely. "What is your apology going to fetch me, soldier? Will it bring my Sanghyuk back to me?" 

"What," Hongbin gulped after a stretch of silence he couldn't bear anymore, "what do you want from me? I have had no hand in any of this, you do know that. I have only been eliminating people involved. So, why have you targeted me?" 

Hakyeon peered at him curiously before deciding to answer. With a shrug, he said, "That is a simple question. It was you who came to me, soldier. You involved yourself. You should have stayed away from me since the beginning," 

"I don't understand," 

"I didn't expect you would," Hakyeon sighed. "Had you not come looking for me all those months ago, you might have been spared the heartache I have given you. You actively sought me out. I asked around about you. You had seen me dance and had wanted to make acquaintances," 

"But you had told me to leave, and I did. You found me the next time," he said incredulously.

"Because then I found out what you were up to. Any soldier turning up at my place wouldn't simply be let go of without a thorough investigation, after all," 

"How?" Hongbin croaked. His mission was top secret. Nobody but the King and his own self were aware. Except —

"Wonshik," Hakyeon confirmed for him. 

"Have you been mixing something with the tea you've made me addicted to?" he didn't want to think much.

"It's a simple aphrodisiac. Not very potent. I needed you to become dependant on me, after all. You have bloomed so well, my flower," 

"Will you dispose of me as well?" Hongbin couldn't help asking. He tried to keep his shaking hands from showing and shoved them beneath the table. 

Hakyeon regarded him before shaking his head, "I haven't actively thought to. If the situation necessitates it, however, I wouldn't hesitate," 

Hongbin trembled. "What do you want from me?" He asked finally. 

Hakyeon smiled and the glint in his eye shone. He clapped his hands in excitement, even. "That's a brilliant question. I have been waiting to answer that!" 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hongbin returned to his chambers at the palace that night. Hakyeon had sent him off with clear instructions for what was to be done. He'd also given him a draught for a dreamless and calm night's sleep, claiming he would need to be at his top most form if the task was to be completed the next day.

Hongbin was worried about the almost nonexistent plan Hakyeon had come up with. He'd been told nothing but that Hakyeon would meet him inside the palace grounds, specifically in the King's private chamber corridor. Hongbin had asked, of course, but Hakyeon had said to him to not worry about it.

He decided to let it go for the night and dressed for bed after having soaked in warm water for a long time. He'd desperately needed that shower and he felt much, much refreshed. 

Sleep, however, wouldn't come even after he'd taken the draughts. His mind was overworking and the thoughts were all muddled up inside his brain. 

"Why do you use poisons to kill?" Hongbin had asked. 

"Of course," Hakyeon had nodded. "Using magic to kill would only leave traces. I didn't want to be found. Why would I use magic?" 

Hongbin turned to lay flat on his back and stared up at the ceiling of his chamber. His eyes were unfocussed even when he seemed like he was staring at a particular spot with interest. 

He was thinking about how he was to go about entering the King's chambers the next morning without it seeming too suspicious when sleep did finally creep upon him.

When he came to, a soft hue of golden sunlight entered the room through the windows and he woke up with a start. He was indeed feeling refreshed. Hakyeon's darughts always worked with precision. 

He dressed without letting his thoughts drift to how Hakyeon was planning on doing whatever he had planned. It had seemed farfetched the previous night, and even more so that morning. 

A knock on his door pulled him away from his reverie and he called out to the guard to enter.

"His Majesty requests your presence, Captain," the guard bowed. 

Hongbin froze. At least, he didn't need to come up with excuses to meet with him. When he left his chambers, he was a little more than nervous. As he walked closer to the King, he was even more so.

What surprised him was just how silent his entire walk had been. All the guards seemed to be in their proper places and nothing seemed amiss. He was almost at the King's private study and he had yet to find Hakyeon. 

Reaching the study, he nodded to the two guards and they bowed back. One of the guards, however, didn't stop staring at him and Hongbin was frankly taken aback when their eyes met.

Hakyeon stood in the original guard's place and grinned at him. He and the other guard opened the door and marched in with him.

Hongbin tore his eyes away from Hakyeon and bowed to the King. "Your Majesty," 

"Ah, Captain Lee. I was awaiting your arrival. Have you slept soundly? I trust the draught given to you by your friend was effective," 

Hongbin gulped. "I am not sure I understand, Your Majesty," 

"You can stop playing dumb, Captain," the King blew at nonexistent dust from beneath his fingertips. "Do you think I am not aware of your relationship with Cha Hakyeon?" 

Hongbin wanted to scoff at that. What relationship? He had only recently found out it had all but been a beautiful lie. "I did sleep well, yes," he answered instead. 

The King stepped down from the pedestal he had been standing on and came to a stop in front of him. "And you have not disposed of him," 

"No," he met those cold, cold eyes. 

The King pulled out his sowed and thrust it at Hongbin's neck, almost slicing a major artery, but held back in the nick of the moment. "And you have no regrets?" 

"None," Hongbin answered without flinching. He was surprised by how true that was. The King sort of disgusted him, if he was to be honest. He'd learnt far too much about the man to still hold any respect.

"Very well," The King then began to circle the room. "Tell me, what is the punishment for insubordination, Captain,"

"To get beheaded, of course," Hongbin wondered too, how he was so fearless suddenly. He knew better than to believe Hakyeon would help out, but he couldn't help it.

The King seemingly lost interest in his answers and pushed his sword towards Hongbin's chest and he did pierce a bit of skin. Blood trickled and a wet patch of red appeared on Hongbin's over shirt, the patch growing in size as the King pushed it more and more deep.

Hongbin sucked in a sharp breath at the pain. His hands, however, remained at his side. He felt his knees buckle a little, as the sword kept pushing in, pushing in.

The sword was suddenly pulled out, as if an invisible force was pulling it away from him and his eyes immediately snapped towards Hakyeon's, who had gone dark in the face.

The King laughed. "I have been waiting for you to reveal yourself, Cha Hakyeon. It has been long due, a meeting between the two of us," he didn't care for the way his sword was slapped away. It clattered loudly.

Hakyeon strode forward. He had somehow put the other guard to sleep already with merely a snap of his finger. The guard was glowing a soft golden. "Do not touch him," 

The King then sliced Hongbin's arm with a smaller dagger he got out of his robes. "Ah, but I can. And I will," 

Hakyeon clenched his fists as he closed his eyes and a soft pink hue surrounded him. Tendrils of pink and blue rushed towards Hongbin, curling around him and almost creating a barrier. The blue pecked at Hongbin's bleeding spots and the blood stopped oozing.

The King narrowed his eyes at Hakyeon. "What are you doing?" He tried to push the sword into Hongbin again but couldn't. 

Hakyeon did not answer. Instead, he let his magic do its thing and the barrier against Hongbin grew and grew in size before it imploded upon itself and a burst of shimmering gold sparkles lit the study up. 

The King strode forward to him. "What did you do?" he demanded. He'd picked his sword up on the way.

Hakyeon simply smiled and pulled out a long sword hanging around his waist. He settled himself into a defensive stance. "Magic," he smirked. 

The King immediately thrust his sword at him. Hakyeon dodged and swung his own to the right to block another oncoming attack. The King was relentless in his attacks but Hakyeon had infused the sword with enough magic that it moved on its own. He wasn't skilled with using a sword, his movements choppy at best. He'd never learnt the art, after all. 

Hongbin tried to push himself into the small battle that had started but he found his movements had been arrested once again. He swore under his breath. He did notice the cuts on his body had healed and he somehow felt much lighter than he ever had. 

"Do you not think it is a suicide mission for you to come to the palace, Hakyeon? Did you think I would not be aware of your plan?" The King asked as he managed to place a cut across Hakyeon's right biceps.

"You do not know what my plan is even now, you fool," Hakyeon laughed. He didn't care for the blood that had begun to seep out. Or the pain. 

"Wrong assumption," The King answered with his head held high. "Did you think I would send Hongbin alone to kill you off knowing how taken he was with you?"

Hakyeon shook his head. "Of course not. But I think you are dumb enough to forget I have the power to meddle with your spy's hearing and cloud his mind with confusion. What makes you think I will not make sure you only know what I want you to know?"

The King faltered for a second and Hakyeon took the opportunity to swing his sword to lacerate his ribs, only slightly away from the man's heart. 

The King still grinned at him toothily. "But you forget. You are in my territory. I have the loyalty of my soldiers while you are but one," 

Hakyeon grinned back. "It matters to me not. I have no intention of living through this day, any way. But I will not go down without pulling you even deeper," 

Hongbin felt his heart drop. He understood then, why Hakyeon had asked him to find out where Sanghyuk had been buried. He should have known his intentions. He desperately wanted to do something, anything but he couldn't.

Hakyeon pushed in more of his magic through the sword and pushed and pushed against the King's until the sword in the man's hand snapped and the blade was cut. Hakyeon then managed to manoeuvre such that he held his sword at the King's throat and the metal glinted brightly.

"Cha Hakyeon. It may seem I have underestimated you," The King muttered. "But you underestimate me, too," he pulled out another hidden dagger and plunged it right into Hakyeon's chest. 

Hakyeon moved just in time to make sure did not pierce his heart. It still hurt, and he winced but did not stop. He managed to tear into the man's thigh and pushed some magic into the wound. 

The King leapt back. "You play dirty, Cha Hakyeon. To use magic against an unarmed man is unfair," 

"You say that as if you were very fair with Sanghyuk, you bastard," Hakyeon seethed. "You killed him even knowing he had not a drop of magical blood in him," he spat.

"Only because I was hoping to lure you out, of course," The King reasoned. "Without a doubt, you would be extremely careful with your magic and what better way to anger you than to kill off your beloved? You said it yourself. One cannot implicate a man without evidence,

Ah, but you are cunning. I must say," The king nodded his head in appreciation. "Not only did you manage to charm my dearest cousin, you also infiltrated my abode," he stopped then, having found the weak spot he was looking for. He noticed Hakyeon only used one hand to fight. He then swung his sword upon the other. "But the game is over," 

Hakyeon's sword clattered to the ground as his right hand shot to cradle his left. It had been struck extremely hard and he could feel his magic wane. His magic resided on his left side mainly. That should not have been struck. 

Hongbin couldn't bear watching from the sidelines. When Hakyeon was struck, he felt his limbs loosen. But before he could reach Hakyeon and pull out his own sword, the King had managed to pin Hakyeon down.

"It's over. You've lost," The King smiled with faux sweetnes. "Such a shame. I would have liked to play longer," 

Hakyeon grinned too. "I may have lost, but I did get my revenge. So that's alright," 

"Hakyeon," Hongbin shouted as he moved to reach his side. 

"Stay there, soldier. This is my end. But this is what I came here for. I don't mind," Hakyeon shook his head in warning. 

"Shut up. What revenge? You have lost. Do you not understand?" 

Hakyeon turned back to look at the King above him, hovering with the sword right about his heart and he laughed. "I told you already. You do not know my plan. Do you not remember what I did earlier? You cannot touch Hongbin. You cannot kill him. Try, and it will backfire. Even if I die, my magic within him will not,"

The King narrowed his eyes and his lips turned thin. The tension was thick in the room.

Hongbin looked down to inspect his body. He was in awe. Why would Hakyeon do that? Did he not hate him?

"No, Hongbin, I do not hate you. I did in the beginning when you were simply a soldier. I may have not fallen in love with you, but you are a wonderful man regardless. I thought of you as a dear friend. Think of this as a parting gift, as a small something in return for all your love. The aphrodisiac I gave you was not something that could induce love, of course. That isn't even possible,

This man obviously wasn't going to let you live on. He would have killed you for now you know about magic as well. But he cannot touch you. You will live for as long as you are meant to,"

Hongbin couldn't stop the barrage of emotions that overthrew him. He'd been thinking since the previous night that everything was all an act and had somehow convinced himself he should hate Hakyeon. And then he was proven wrong. What was he to do?

"Why," Hongbin croaked. 

"All I intended was to get myself killed today and to save your life in the process," Hakyeon laughed. "It is a year today to Sanghyuk's death, after all," 

The King scoffed. "If your so called revenge only extends to saving Hongbin, then that isn't even worth being called a revenge plan. I pity your Sanghyuk," 

Hakyeon narrowed his eyes at the King. "And once again you prove just how much of a fool you are. That is only a part, of course. I have already managed to eliminate every person involved in that mission of yours," 

"But I am still alive and standing," 

Hakyeon laughed but spluttered as he found it difficult to breathe. His magic waned a lot and he knew he could only live on for a few more minutes at the most. "I have cut you enough times with magic. The wounds will not heal. Never, even if I die, even if you find another to help. Because it is my magic," 

The King, in a rage, plunged the sword down into Hakyeon's heart just as Hongbin tried to throw himself to shield him.

"Hakyeon, no," Hongbin cried. 

Hakyeon's hand flew to clutch at the ring that he kept around his neck and he smiled. "Find someone who will make you happy. Also, apologise to Wonshik from my side. I did promise I would take care not to get hurt. I might be most apologetic to my parents, though. Now, you know what to do with my body. Let me be happy, soldier," 

Hongbin's cheeks were wet with the tears that just wouldn't stop flowing. He could only watch as Hakyeon began to emit a soft glow and it fizzled away, leaving but a shell of the man behind. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Any and all remaining mistakes are mine. I did read through but I may have missed something anyway. If there is something that is blatantly wrong, do let me know! 
> 
> And if you have read till here, thank you so much! I appreciate it.


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